For companies in the travel and employment industries, the recent approval of two top-level domain names by the oversight body for the Internet's addressing system is a positive development. The creation of industry-specific domain suffixes, such as the new .travel and .jobs designations, helps businesses develop brands more effectively on the Web. However, the new additions have caused some analysts to warn that the introduction of too many domain name options could create greater problems for businesses, especially problems related to cybersquatting.

In popular terminology, "cybersquatting" is the deliberate, abusive registration of a domain name in violation of rights in trademarks and service marks. Many companies seeking to develop brands on the Internet have been chagrined to find that some outside person or group has already registered the addresses mostly likely to be used for their Web sites. Apple Computer's plan to use the domain name itunes.co.uk for its iTunes music service was thwarted, temporarily, when a British businessman acquired the domain name first and refused to sell it for less than $50,000. White House staffers were likewise embarrassed to discover that a free-speech activist pre-registered whitehouse.com and turned it into a porn site. Even the Pope isn't immune to such acts of profiteering. Cybersquatting opportunists snatched up the domain names BenedictXVI.com, BenedictXVI.org, and BenedictXVI.net within an hour of the recent election of the new Pontiff.

The medium of the Internet has proven to be a battleground for brands of all sorts--and with good reason. Brands are costly. A well-developed brand becomes a symbol of the quality and reliability associated with a product, service, or company. If companies don't act to protect their brands, they may become hostage to cybersquatters who stockpile domain names in hopes of being bought out later at a premium.